Does Rand Paul have a chance in an election that features Ted Cruz?

The pedigree for Rand Paul is as good as it gets. He was supposed to pick up the mantle that his father once carried and bring it to the finish line because of his less stringent Libertarian views. This was the year that the young, ideological conservative was supposed to be in the right place at the right time. His problem: Ted Cruz is beating him at his own game.

While not a Libertarian, Cruz represents many of the same views. The difference is that he seems to be more appreciated by the mainstream and is drawing much more support from the far right. This is a problem for Paul who must get those conservatives who believe in his isolationist perspective in order to have a chance.

It isn’t just Cruz. The isolationist perspective worked just fine a couple of years ago when it was clear that the mistakes of the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations had caused more harm than good in the Middle East. The problem is that the Islamic State is different from Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Afghanistan. With the Islamic State, they have the power to bring the war to America and that has people worried.